Friday, 11 October 2013

Anglers Mail - Action Replay

When targeting Grass Carp theirs no
skimping on bait as Peter displays and the only way to deliver this
is via a bait boat.

Peter Hooper is
treasurer of Farnham Angling Society and has been fine tuning his
preferred particle approach over many years to catch literally
hundreds of specimen grass carp. Ignoring the unselective and
convenient boilie and pellet approach that most anglers use on the
venue, Peter’s session starts more than forty-eight hours before
leaving home as this is when he starts to prepare the vast quantities
of bait needed for an overnight session, something that most anglers
just cant be bothered with.

Targeting Badshot
Lea Big Pond, well known for its big cats and bream shoals Peter has
spent countless hours trying to reduce interference from unwanted
species and has finally achieved a catch by design technique that he
feels just cant be bettered. ‘Going in on a little and often basis
just wont produce the goods, Grass Carp love heaps of food and that’s
exactly what I’m going to give them today’, he remarks.

Anglers Mail Rating: Will the far from
ideal conditions beat a local expert’s knowledge?

09:00

Arriving mid morning, Peter already
has an idea of where he wants to head as grass carp aren’t like
most fish that follow the wind, preferring to stay well out in the
centre of the lake. Heading for a swim halfway down the railway bank
the first job is to send out the bait boat equipped with feature
finder to get a feel for the typography of the swim in front of him.
‘I’m looking for a channel that is 5ft deep which has produced
for me before, its just short of halfway across and fortunately the
anglers opposite aren’t casting far out so I’m not going to
interfere with them,’ he comments. The viewfinder soon has the mark
noted and immediately shows a fish symbol, not necessarily a fish,
but a real confidence boost.

09:30

Peter’s rig is
certainly not subtle which is surprising as the conditions are bright
with an easterly wind and atmospherics of 1030mb which would see most
anglers scaling down to buy a bite. Consisting of 20lb fluorocarbon
mainline, three-feet of ESP Anchor Tubing, 2oz inline lead, 15lb Nash
Missing Link hooklink and a size 10 Gardner Continental Boilie hook
tied knotless knot there’s nothing written about buying a bite in
this script!

‘There’s no
reason to scale down when using a bait boat and lots of particles, as
most of the particles will fall onto the rig which drops out of the
boat first, and as long as you pin everything down the rig should be
very inconspicuous,’ Peter explains.

09:45

With both rods
made up and ready to go its time to bait each hair. On one rod Peter
places three pieces of maize, two real plus one buoyant fake piece
nearest the hair stop. This has been soaked in Richworth Pineapple
flavouring for added attraction and his maize has had some sugar
syrup added. On his other rod he places two whole peanuts.

‘I’m not one
to get stereotyped into one presentation and will always use
different baits on each rod as the grass carp can switch of a bait
from week to week, especially if they have been caught a few times on
one specific presentation. Even if one baits producing more, I rarely
change as I find on occasions a bigger, clever fish falls to the
quieter rod. I also find that maize is better in the summer whilst
peanuts produce in the spring,’ he remarks.

10:00

Loading the bait boat Peter’s really
giving them a banquet and initially places his rig on the shelf
before loading on top, hemp followed by cut maize and finally a good
scope of maize. ‘I never cover my hookbait with free offerings as
in the past, whilst doing this; have found the odd piece of maize to
cover the hook point. I now straighten the rig out and load the shelf
around the lead area. In total I would estimate that there is around
a kilo and a half of bait per rod and I will leave these out for two
hours before refreshing them,’ he recommends.

Having sent the boat out and dropped
the rig Peter quickly places a line marker on his main line made from
electrical tape, and positions this just of the reel before loading
his peanut rig into the boat. This time he starts with hemp, followed
by kibbled peanuts and finally a good helping of peanuts. This is
sent out and after clipping on the indicators Peter starts to
organise camp for the proceeding session.

11:20

An hour and fifteen passes without any
indications and the lake seems to be very quiet which isn’t
surprising as its beginning to get hot, then a single bleep has Peter
looking at his indicator. Five minutes pass before a typical bream
bite sees him picking up the rod and setting the hook. ‘Grass carp
often give very strange bites, very similar to bream where the
indicator just rises and drops yet these are grass carp so don’t
ignore them, pick the rod up and strike,’ he reveals.

The bite has come on the maize rod and
although the fish isn’t fighting hard Peter knows it’s a grass
carp. ‘These fish are very unpredictable, some fight hard and long
and others can be lead in like a dog on a lead. These are the
worrying ones as often they go ballistic in the landing net,’ he
comments.

11:30

Having fought hard in the margins
Peter confidently rest the carp in the net before wetting his
unhooking mat down and zeroing the sling to his scales. It’s not
the biggest grass carp Peter’s caught but a great start to the
session. ‘I reckon this one around fifteen pounds, there’s a lot
this size however a thirty is a possibility’, he remarks.

Placing the fish carefully in the
weigh sling Peter takes the weight and is shocked that the scales
swing round to 17lb 3oz. ‘Well that goes to show its been a while
since I have targeted these’, he jokes.

11:45

With the fish safety returned Peter
places fresh grains of maize onto his hair, carefully places his rig
into the boat before loading this once again with a good helping of
particles. ‘Just like casting, I have to take the boat out in line
with a far bank marker, in this case its straight towards the anglers
in peg 23 and as soon as I see the taped marker leave the spool and
reach the end of the rod I stop the boat and drop everything. Its
coming up to the two hour since the peanut rods was sent out so I
think its time I refreshed this one as its obvious the grass carp are
feeding’, he remarks.

11:50

Amazingly it only takes five minutes
for the indicator of the maize rod to start dancing again and once
again Peter finds himself playing another grass carp. ‘This one
doesn’t feel as big and its one of those that’s slowly coming
towards me and not fighting’, he grimaces as he know full well
what’s about to happen.

In the net the
grass carp goes ballistic, its around fifteen pounds but Peter keeps
the fish well away from the shoreline and allows itself to tire
before simply removing the hook whilst the fish is still in the net
and releasing her.

12:00

After loading the boat once more and
sending it on route Peter sits back, puts the kettle on before
revealing a few more secrets about grass carp. ‘Grass carp love the
sun, that’s why I wasn’t that concerned about catching today.
They are one species that are usually obliging when everything else
heads for cover. Water craft isn’t that important as they rarely
follow the wind and as long as you target open water, and at
distance, in this instance around seventy yards, you’re in with a
chance. Loving the sun they seem to prefer feeding during daylight,
not always, but generally this is without a doubt a more productive
time with mornings best, before a lull in action during the
afternoon, then a feeding spell from six till dusk’, he reveals.

12:47

It’s not long before an alarm starts
to sing and at long last it’s the peanut rod, but will it be the
big one. ‘This feels better, maybe it’s a twenty, its not doing a
lot but I can tell from the sheer weight its substantially bigger
than the last two fish’, he comments.

The fish kites to the right and Peter,
as always drops the rod tip of the other rod under the water. Slowly
he edges the grass carp closer but this ones not coming in easily and
makes a couple of desperate runs before being encapsulated in the
net, but is it the twenty we were hoping for?

The End Result 13:00 –

In less than three
hours of having baits in the water Peter has landed three grass carp,
the biggest going 20lb 8oz, yet with another twenty-four to go it’s
intriguing to just what he’s capable of!

‘This isn’t
unusual, if their feeding action comes quite quickly, yet after
catching a few they seem to spook and become less frequent’, he
comments.

Leaving him to it
I call him the following day and even though he has wasted five hours
fishing, having to attend a committee meeting in the adjacent scout
hut his tally of fish is simply remarkable. Five further grass carp
graced his net including two mid twenties along with five king carp
to fifteen pound plus a unexpected twenty pound catfish that took a
liking to his maize hookbait in broad daylight just after I left.

This is what can
only be described as twenty first century grass carp fishing!

1. Pinning down end tackle is crucial
and a simple way of securing tungsten putty to hooklinks is by
moulding it around a mini float stop.

2. If your serious about particle
fishing then buy your bait in bulk at an animal feed supplier,
however if using peanuts make sure these are of human consumption
grade; a lesser quality just isn’t acceptable.

3. All anglers targeting carp, not just
grass carp, should be carrying a first aid kit and if possible apply
an antiseptic solution to areas that show damage.

4. Grass carp have small hard plates
just inside the mouth, not dissimilar to catfish. After capture these
pads can blunt hooks so checks them after each capture. In fact,
check them after every cast!

5. When playing a fish it’s a good
idea to drop your other rod under the surface ensuring the baitrunner
is still on as this removes the possibility of a hooked fish becoming
entangled.

When using
particles its paramount that all seeds, pulses and nuts are soaked
for a minimum of 48 hrs. After this they need to be boiled for a
further thirty minutes! This process allows moisture to penetrate
them allowing them to swell up to their maximum capacity. If you
don’t soak and boil them for this time, then they will swell up
inside a fish’s body if eaten, often with fatal consequences. If
you are thinking of using particles then start with items such as
maize and hemp, more complex particles like peanuts, maples and tiger
nuts need to be sourced correctly and prepared carefully. If in doubt
then buy readily prepared particles for your local tackle shop.